WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX two launch task orders worth $1.6 billion to deploy military satellite constellations, marking the largest publicly announced batch of missions yet under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program.<\/p>\n
The award covers 18 Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California through the end of 2027 in support of the Space Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio, a collection of satellite programs intended to improve how the military detects, tracks and communicates information about threats in near real time.<\/p>\n
The task orders reinforce SpaceX\u2019s central role in the military\u2019s next-generation satellite networks. Beyond providing the launches, the company is building two of the portfolio\u2019s largest satellite systems under separate multibillion-dollar contracts, giving it responsibility for both placing the constellations in orbit and supplying key elements of the architecture itself.<\/p>\n
Space Based Sensing and Targeting is one of the Space Force\u2019s newly established acquisition portfolios<\/a>. It oversees the Space Development Agency\u2019s Tracking Layer, a constellation of infrared satellites designed to detect and track advanced missile threats; the Space Data Network Backbone, an optically linked communications network being built by SpaceX to move large volumes of military data across the Joint Force; and the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program, another SpaceX-led constellation intended to track aircraft and other airborne targets from orbit.<\/p>\n